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Wednesday, April 08, 2015

Leader of Sex Trafficking Ring Pleads Guilty

The leader of a sex trafficking ring pleaded guilty today to
charges stemming from his interstate prostitution enterprise, announced
Assistant Attorney General Leslie R. Caldwell of the Justice Department’s
Criminal Division, U.S. Attorney J. Walter Green of the Middle District of
Louisiana and Special Agent in Charge Michael J. Anderson of the FBI’s New
Orleans Division.

Jeremie J. Tate, 33, of Zachary, Louisiana, pleaded guilty
this morning before U.S. District Judge Shelly D. Dick of the Middle District
of Louisiana to conspiracy to unlawfully use interstate facilities in aid of
racketeering, two counts of use of interstate facilities in aid of racketeering
and enticing another to travel interstate for prostitution.After evading arrest for several days, Tate
was apprehended in Houston, Texas, on April 25, 2014, by the U.S. Marshals
Service Fugitive Task Force and the FBI’s New Orleans Division.Tate has remained in federal custody since
his arrest.

According to the plea agreement filed in the case, from
November 2012 through November 2013, Tate operated a prostitution business
based in Baton Rouge involving multiple prostitutes, including a minor. Tate and others, used telephones and the
Internet to arrange online advertising, schedule prostitution sessions and
recruit other prostitutes.Tate admitted
that he took most of the proceeds from the prostitution business and
distributed controlled substances to his prostitutes and others to manipulate
and intimidate them.In his plea
agreement, Tate specifically admitted that he enticed a prostitute to travel
from Baton Rouge to Las Vegas in December 2012 to engage in prostitution for
him.

Three other individuals have already pleaded guilty and are
awaiting sentencing for their roles in this sex trafficking ring.

The case is being investigated by the FBI’s New Orleans
Division, Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, Louisiana State Police and East
Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Baton Rouge,
Louisiana, Police Department’s Narcotics Division, U.S. Marshals Service
Fugitive Task Force and other law enforcement agencies.The case is being prosecuted by Trial
Attorney Reginald E. Jones of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and
Obscenity Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jamie A. Flowers Jr. of the
Middle District of Louisiana.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a
nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual
exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice.Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and the
Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Project Safe
Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate,
apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as
well as to identify and rescue victims.For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit
www.projectsafechildhood.gov.